This invention relates to a method and apparatus for supporting materials and more particularly to a tri-leg jaw horse which supports objects during construction.
Saw horses have been used in construction sites for resting material thereon so that the material can be cut and drilled. Conventional saw horses have two pairs of downward extending legs that attach to a main member extending across between the pairs. Horses are placed adjacent each other with flat boards resting on the main members. These flat boards create a working surface on which material is then laid.
A drawback to these horses is that they are bulky and take up a lot of room. Consequently horses cannot easily fold up to be stored. Further these horses typically have four legs. Thus when the horses are placed on uneven surfaces the working surface tends to rock. Another drawback to horses is that their maximum height is limited as their legs are fixed in length. Consequently the horses cannot be quickly and easily adapted to positioning material thereon at different height levels.
The angle of prior horses main member is fixed with respect to horizontal. It is often desirable to change the angle of the working surface to accommodate drilling or other construction tasks. A requirement in construction is to be able to use these horses to position materials at different levels so that they can be easily worked on. Prior horses have a fixed height and thus cannot accommodate working with materials placed at various levels.
Another requirement is that once the materials are placed on the saw horse and the construction on the materials completed, these materials are removed and replaced with new material. Prior horses have a rigid main member that restricts the movement of the material when laid thereon. Consequently it is often difficult to remove the completed material from the horse itself. Another objective in construction is to place material at different levels simultaneously so that different tasks can be accomplished simultaneously. Prior horses restrict the material to working at one level at a time unless many different sized horses must be used. Adding a large number of different size horses increases space requirement which is often limited on construction sites.